Harry Potter and the Wolf Pack: The In-Between
by Nega Mewtwo
Summary: Short side stories to go along with my main fanfic series, Harry Potter and the Wolf Pack. Werewolf!Harry is a given. These will mostly take place in the two years between joining the pack and going to Hogwarts, during the summers, or follow the pack while Harry and Nightingale are at Hogwarts. Rated T because I don't know where the line is between it and K .


Side Story 1: Comfort Smells Like Mints

**So, I saw someone wanted to see me write the two years between when Harry joins the pack and when Harry gets his letter. While I did want to share some of those moments, writing out all of that would have lead to burnout very quickly, so I came up with this as a compromise. These will all be one to two chapters for each short story, and they be much shorter than chapters on the main story. This will also help me flesh out what I think the other characters' personalities are, so I can hopefully write them consistently. **

**This specific one takes place only a few days after Harry comes home for the first time.**

Mint was lying on her bed, reading a book; specifically, the newest Fablehaven book that just came out, _Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. _The series was one of her favorites. The residents of Safe Haven were able to get things from outside Safe Haven, better known as simply "The Outside", through a catalog. There was a woman, Snake, who flew a plane between Safe Haven and The Outside, and she would pick up the orders from the catalog. Snake was one of the only residents of Safe Haven that could go to The Outside, mostly to keep the wards that protected Safe Haven strong.

Mint's reading was interrupted by a commotion outside her door; it sounded like Pidge was talking someone's ear off again. She tried getting back to reading, but was again interrupted, this time by her door opening, and then slamming shut. She frowned; her roommate and closest sister, Koko, usually knocked if the door was closed, and Pidge usually passed by her sister's rooms if they were closed. She may have been a hyperactive goofball, but she was a _considerate _hyperactive goofball. None of the other pack members would have had a reason to come in her room at this moment. Now that she was listening closely, there was heavy breathing behind her, too.

Curiosity thoroughly piqued, Mint rolled over to see the intruder, only to find the one person in the house she hadn't considered: the new kid, Harry. However, something didn't seem right about him; his eye was wide and his chest was heaving, evidently the source of the heavy breathing. His sole eye darted wildly around the room. He stood with his back pressed to the door, arms outstretched, with his palms also pressed against the door. _Like he's trying to keep something- or some_one_\- out, _Mint thought. She had her suspicions, and this all but confirmed it for her, that he probably didn't have a happy home life before being taken in by Queen.

"Harry?" She called out hesitantly, making sure to keep her voice soft so she wouldn't send him into a deeper panic. "You OK?"

His eye quickly snapped to her. _Too quickly, _she thought. "Hey, come here," she said gently, stretching her arms out to invite him into an embrace. Harry slowly, cautiously, made his way over to Mint. However, as she closed her arms, she felt him stiffen at her touch, and she quickly dropped her arms. She was trying to calm him down, not send him into another panic attack! "Hey, it's ok," she tried reassuring him, "You're safe here." She patted the bed next to her, inviting him to sit. As he moved to do so, he hesitated, looking at her with a guilty expression. A surge of fury went through her towards whomever was "taking care" of him before, but she hid it from him with a kind smile. If he saw her anger, he would probably assume that it was directed towards him. "It's alright, you can sit down." He finally sat down, but still looked like he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have.

Suddenly, Mint heard Pidge call out Harry's name, and, seeing him stiffen again, the pieces clicked into place for her. Pidge was probably going after Harry so they could get to know each other better, like she usually did for new pack members, but Harry, likely due to his old home life, panicked and ran. She reached out and put her paw on his back. As expected, he flinched, but started relaxing as she drew her paw in circles across his back. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he responded, a little too quickly.

"If you're sure," Mint said, unconvinced. She sighed. "You know, Harry, if you want to talk about it, we'll listen. I think we all suspect you haven't had a happy childhood thus far, and we're willing to lend an ear for you."

"I don't want your pity," Harry said quickly.

"And I didn't expect you would," Mint said just as quickly. "I just wanted you to know that we're here for you if you ever need it." She giggled. "You know, kid, you actually lucked out here."

"What do you mean?"

Mint stopped rubbing his back and laid on her stomach with her paws holding up her chin. In this position, she and Harry were practically eye-level with each other. "I'm usually the one other members of this pack go to for personal problems, or if they have issues with another pack member. I'm guessing Pidge-the orange-brown one of us-was the one bothering you?"

"Yeah," Harry said, clearly still uncomfortable.

"It's all right Harry, I'll go talk to her."

"Thank you," Harry said, relieved.

Mint readjusted herself back upright. "Ready to go back out there yet?"

"Ready as I think I'll ever be," Harry sighed. He stood up and headed for the door. Just before opening it, he looked back at Mint. "Thanks for listening to me, and not just yelling at me to get out."

"Of course," Mint replied. "Like I said, I'm the one the pack usually goes to when they have issues. I don't want this sort of thing to be the only reason you visit me, though, you hear? You can come talk to me about whatever."

Harry smiled in response-the first real smile Mint had seen him give thus far, and her heart soared at her success. "I think I'll take you up on that." And he went out the door.

Mint gave her own smile to herself. She, for the first time, saw a glimpse of the person he would become. _You're gonna go far, kid, _she thought, _Make me proud. _And she went back to her reading.

**So there we have it. The first side story is complete! I'd love to hear what you all think of it. Unfortunately, I am done with giving individual shout-outs to follows, favorites, and reviews; I am starting to get really bad at keeping track of them. That doesn't mean they go unappreciated, however!**

**Next time, Harry makes friends outside the pack!**


End file.
